How Neda Agha-Soltan became the face of Iran's struggle

Shortly after 5pm on Saturday ­afternoon, Hamed, an Iranian asylum seeker in the ­Netherlands, took a frantic call from a friend in Tehran.

"A girl has just been killed right next to me," the friend said. It had all ­happened quickly. A young woman, chatting on her mobile phone, had been shot in the chest. She faded before a doctor, who was on the scene, could do anything to help.

There was more. Hamed's friend, who does not want to be named, filmed the incident on his phone. Within moments the footage had landed in Hamed's inbox. Five minutes later it was on YouTube and Facebook.

Within hours it had become one of the most potent threats faced by the ­Iranian regime in 30 years.

"He asked me, is it possible to publish everything right now," Hamed said. "I published it on YouTube and Facebook and five minutes later it started to get many emails and messages and it was ­published everywhere.

"It shocked me very, very much and I was sure at that time everyone in the world if they see this movie they'll be shocked, and I felt that I must broadcast it because I try to show to the world what is going on in my country."

The killing of Neda Agha-Soltan, the grisly images of blood spreading across her face, have become perhaps the defining sequence in the 10-day uprising against the regime in Tehran, a gruesome ­manifestation of Ayatollah Ali ­Khamenei's threat to use force on the tens of thousands of people ­contesting the outcome of the presidential election.

Agha-Soltan is being mythologized as a ­martyr to the opposition's cause, a ­rallying call for a protest movement in need of a hero. Her image was printed on placards brandished during clashes in Tehran.

(http://www.guardian.co.uk)

· Having read the text, work in small groups.

ü Describe the sequence of events that made Agha-Soltan ‘a ­martyr to the opposition's cause’.

ü What technical devices made the story possible? What advantages and disadvantages does a modern journalist have in comparison with his colleagues who worked in the late 19^th century?

· Focus on vocabulary

ü Replace the highlighted words with their synonyms from the text.

1. It was evident that he was awfully nervous when he was looking for this document. It must have been a very important paper.

2. The short movie made by one of the witnesses became an important pert of the program.

3. The vaccine they used was very strong and effective.

4. The town was shaken by a series of awful, terrifying crimes.

5. The demonstrations in the city were triggered by the horrible murder of a young woman.

· Sharing the ideas

ü Prepare a round-table discussion on one of the following topics You can also offer your own topic:

1. New media – the death knell for traditional journalism?

2. Social networks: informing, or violating your privacy?

ü Choose an anchor.

ü Make a plan of discussion.

ü Make a list of ‘guests’ and ‘experts’ for your round-table discussion. Make sure that ‘guests’, ‘experts’ and the audience have arguments to support their viewpoints and have questions to ask.

· Make a report (a presentation) about one of the social networks and its role in modern journalism in your country.